COOPERSTOWN — No one is more respected in baseball than Hank Aaron, and he made it clear yesterday that if known steroid users make it into the Hall of Fame, there should be asterisks placed on their plaques.

The day before the induction of Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice, the former Home Run King said seeing some of the great records fall in this steroid-tainted age is “kind of sad.

“I think the only thing you can look at is that do you put these guys in and do you put names with an asterisk beside the name, ‘Hey they did it, but here’s why.’ To be safe that’s the only way I can see how you can do it,” Aaron said.

This is Aaron’s key comment on the subject and tells you everything you need to know about the path the steroid sluggers took.

“I don’t see how, and I’ve played the game long enough and you guys have watched it long enough to know that it is impossible for players to hit 70-something home runs,” he said flatly. “It just don’t happen. … I think that’s one reason why people’s eyes started opening up and said: ‘How can this guy do this?’

“Somewhere on the plaque, hey, ’73 home runs da, da, da, he was accused … ‘ that’s the only way you can do it.” Barry Bonds, who has 762 home runs, hit 73 home runs in 2001 and in 2007 broke Aaron’s all-time home run record of 755, a sacred number in baseball history.

Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said “it hurts” to see players linked to steroids such as Manny Ramirez pass Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list and agreed with Aaron on the use of an asterisk. Jackson pointed out that from the time he came into the game he has looked for guidance on how to act from players such as Aaron, Willie Mays and Bob Gibson.

Henderson and Rice will be inducted into the Hall of Fame today. When and if steroid sluggers are voted into the Hall by the Baseball Writers of America, some Hall of Famers could skip the induction of those players.

“I probably just wouldn’t come,” said Goose Gossage, who was inducted last year. “Call it a boycott or whatever you want.” Gossage called the Hall “sacred” ground, and he would not welcome those that used performance enhancing drugs.

“If you cheated you shouldn’t be allowed in,” he said. “I think it’s a no-brainer.”

Hall of Famers want to protect their house.

Aaron said if PED cheats arrived at the Hall through the voting process, he would have no choice but to “accept them … you make a rule you got to stand by it, you guys vote and that’s the way it is,” he said.

It’s interesting to note that Aaron said he believes Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame.

“I would like to see Pete in, he belongs there,” Aaron said.

I agree. The all-time hits leader should be in the Hall of Fame, especially because his big problems with baseball occurred in his post-playing career.

Aaron said every era has had its problems.

“I look at the steroids and all the other things, and then I look at the era in which I played in and I looked at guys who drank a lot, did a lot of other things and I don’t know that you can separate the two,” he said.

“It’s hard to say that the reason you hit a home run was because you were on steroids. I still don’t believe that.” Aaron added. “I believe that your body can recuperate quickly to come back on the field. But I certainly don’t think you can stand up there and hit a Nolan Ryan 100-mph fastball simply because you put something in your arm or took a pill. I just don’t believe that … but it does give you an advantage.” And an asterisk.